


We've Met Before

by PoliticalPadmé (magnetgirl)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alderaanian Culture (Star Wars), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Solo Loves His Family, Canonical Character Death (pre-story), Engagement, F/M, Human Chewbacca (Star Wars), Mentions of Anxiety, Rey Nobody, Scavenger Rey (Star Wars), Scenes from a Relationship, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29222565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/pseuds/PoliticalPadm%C3%A9
Summary: Rey and Ben meet, move in together, get engaged, and marry.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Ben Solo, Leia Organa & Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 33
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Something Old

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MBlair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MBlair/gifts).



> Happy Reylo Exchange! I smooshed three of your prompts (first holiday, engagement, and wedding) into one little fic. I hope you enjoy the result.
> 
>   
> 

"Where did you get that?"

His roar filled the shop. Rey looked over, startled. The speaker was tall, hulking. Surrounded by delicate antiques his mass seemed dangerous and his eyes held an intensity that rippled through her. She didn't answer except to blink.

"In the window." He pointed. "Where did you get it?" Ben passed by weekly, at least, but nothing in the junk shop ever caught his attention before. Today, the sun bounced off the clutter and drew his eye to a familiar bauble.

Rey glanced where he indicated. "Oh, the music box?" She crossed to the window and pulled out a key to open the case. "I'm not sure, it predates me." Rey first visited the junk shop when she was twelve, but had only been working there a year or so. "I found it on a back shelf gathering dust." She turned the key and reached carefully through figures and glasses to retrieve the music box. "I thought it deserved to be seen."

Rey stepped back and placed the box on a small painted table. She gestured for Ben to come closer. "Isn't it beautiful? The way the light hits it..."

He approached slowly, glaring with dark eyes. But she noticed a vulnerability at the edges, and he seemed afraid to touch the music box. Instead he watched Rey reach out and turn it slowly.

"I know it looks a delicate but it's in fine condition. And still plays..." She turned the key crank and a haunting melody filled the space between them. Ben's eyes widened. "And look!" She pressed a tiny button beside the crank. The lid opened slowly and the box emitted a soft glow. Rey smiled. "I think it's a night light." The gleam was pale in the daylight, but still felt magical. 

Tentative, Ben extended a hand toward the music box. He paused just before touching the side of the box, passed his fingers through the low light. Rey watched with a quiet smile.

"There's something written on the cover." She pointed. "Here, see?" Ben raised his eyes, watched her finger brush the painted words. "The language looks familiar but I don't know..." She pulled her hand back and bit her thumb, thoughtful. "I tried Google Translate once but some of the letters have faded and no matter what I tried, it couldn't pick it out either."

Ben moved again, still cautious, reached to finally touch the object itself. Very carefully he picked it up and tilted the top back, so he could see the words.

"Hope is like the sun," he said, quiet and lyrical, and wholly unlike his earlier roar. Rey leaned closer to listen, delighted to see he could read the text. "If you only believe it when you see it you'll never make it through the night."

"That's beautiful."

Ben met her eyes. Her reverence warmed him. "It's Alderaanian. A proverb."

Rey's face lit up, and she mouthed _Oh!_ "Alderaan." It was a tiny Balkan country caught in a power struggle between larger neighbors, and completely destroyed in 1977. History described it as a cautionary tale, if it came up at all. Some politicians used it to garner attention right after the bombing. But four decades later Alderaan was barely more than a footnote, its culture absorbed by the victors, the remaining refugees spread across the world. Practically a myth. "You read the language?"

Ben shook his head, but it was more confused than emphatic. He seemed lost in thought. "Not well," he answered finally. Rey was quiet, watching and waiting, encouraging him to say more.

He replaced the music box on the table and gently pressed it closed. "My mother grew up there," he said and pulled away.

Rey frowned. He looked confused again, and hesitant... scared... Her fingers fluttered, but he flinched and she pulled back. 

Rey pursed her lips. "Shall I wrap it up for you?"

A long silence passed. It felt intrusive. Rey shifted her focus to the sparkles of dust that floated between them, glinting in the sun. At last, Ben shook his head.

"No."

This time she did reach out and grasp his sleeve. He lowered his eyes to her fingers, the fabric of his shirt curled between them. A low buzz startled them both. Ben pulled out his phone, swiped the message away and plunked it on the table with a scowl.

"No," he said again.

Rey's eyes narrowed at the tension in his body. He seemed a threads breadth away from an explosion.

"Are you okay?"

Ben frowned. Rey lifted her chin. 

"If you—" she started, but the phone buzzed again. Her eyes flickered to the screen, to the message that popped into view.

_Happy birthday loser_

Rey looked up sharply. "It's your birthday?"

He scowled again, but nodded.

The phone buzzed a third time. Ben grabbed it off the table and shut it off before dropping it back in a pocket. "Sorry," he grumbled.

"I don't like being the center of attention, either."

Ben looked up with wide eyes, surprised at her insight. The corners of his lips curled into almost a smile.

"Wait here." Rey spun and hurried away. 

Ben watched her disappear into a back room and wondered why he stayed. She'd be disappointed, the smile in her eyes would fall, but that never mattered before. Now his stomach hurt at the thought. He felt weirdly lightheaded. 

Rey returned with a small cardboard box and tissue. She wrapped the music box in layers of tissue, placed it gently in the cardboard, and closed it up. With a satisfied grin, she held the package out to Ben.

"Happy birthday."

Ben stared. "I... can't..."

"Please." She pressed the box toward him.

Ben held her gaze a long moment. He wet his lips, plucked the box from her outstretched hand.

"Why?"

She tilted her head up. "You're the first person who looks at it the way I do." The store's wares were mostly salvage. Junk brought in by people desperate for a payout. Things that were old and broken and forgotten. Lost. Like her. "I want it to belong to someone who understands its value." She didn't mean monetary, not even historic. She understood what it truly meant to be a light in darkness.

Ben opened his mouth to say, _Thank you_ , but somehow "Would you" came out instead. She raised an eyebrow at his trapped expression. He swallowed. 

"Would you like to get some coffee?"

Rey flashed a wide smile. "I would like that very much."


	2. Something New

Rey placed the music box on the mantle over the fireplace, and stepped back to take it in.

She grew up in a succession of group homes and crumbling apartments. The kind where rent was paid weekly. The kind that was the only option, that no one would choose, and some didn’t survive. 

This house was small and ancient and needed a lot of work. The paint was curling, there were two broken steps, and it was close enough to the El the front windows shook when a train passed. Ben’s old friends, the ones he left behind along with the day trader job he hated, would say this house was the “only option” kind. But the commute to her shop was easy, and to the financial assistance program where Ben worked now. 

More importantly, it had a fireplace and a mantle for the music box. Most importantly, it was theirs. It was home.

"Do you want to get married?"

Rey turned to stare at him, wide eyed and slack jawed. "Is that a proposal?"

"No!"

Rey blinked at the vehemence on display in the syllable. "Oh."

Ben blanched. "No, wait, I didn't mean... If I... A proposal would be more..."

"Rehearsed?" Ben flushed and popped his lips twice like a fish. Rey giggled. "Romantic?"

"I- "

He was entirely flustered; she took pity. "You're asking if I want to get married _in theory_?"

"I guess."

Rey chewed her thumb and considered. Watching, Ben grew increasingly agitated and clasped his hands behind his back in an effort to stay still.

"I don't know," she said, finally. "I've never thought about it."

"Never?"

She shook her head. "I haven't had many serious relationships. None, really, before you."

Ben frowned. "Me neither, but..."

"But?"

He pursed his lips, met her eyes, and seemed to make a decision. "Have you ever seen _Sleeping Beauty_?"

Rey made a face like she wasn’t sure she'd heard correctly. "...the Disney movie?"

"Yeah."

"I think so." She shrugged. All those princess stories blended together.

Ben took a deep breath. "At the beginning, before the curse, there's a betrothal."

"Okay."

"The baby gets engaged to a kid."

"Okay..." Rey kind of wanted to see if he had a fever, but he was speaking with the intensity he usually reserved for conversations about anarchy.

"And the kid makes a face because... because it's ridiculous." Ben threw up his hands. "He's six or seven and he's meeting his bride and she's literally an infant and... So, he sticks out his tongue and he... he's... he doesn't want to do it."

"Ben, what are you talking about?"

He met her eyes. "When I was little, I wished my parents set me up to get married."

Rey made a face. "Seriously?" It was true Ben was a strange combination of revolutionary and traditionalist, but, _seriously_?

"They grow up," he explained, "and they meet in the woods and they don't _know_ that she's the baby princess or he's the scowling kid. And they fall in love anyway, and it's _that love_ that saves the kingdom and breaks the spell and..." Ben stopped in mid-sentence with the sudden realization he was babbling passionately about a cartoon. He blushed deeply. "I'm sorry, never mind."

"What? No way!" She swatted his hand. "Ben! You can't never mind after all that."

"It's not important."

He moved away, the shields around his feelings practically tangible. Rey's anger flared, but she pushed it away. This was a moment for compassion. She took a deep breath. 

"If it wasn't a proposal..."

"It wasn't."

"Well, why _did_ you ask then?"

He shrugged. She sighed.

"We just bought a house together." She gestured to the many boxes of their collective belongings. "I think it's clear we're serious."

He looked up, pained, and trying to hide it. Rey stepped closer, so close her breath tickled his chin.

"I love you," she said. "I'm not leaving. And I'm definitely not secretly a princess engaged to someone else."

Ben laughed quietly. "I know."

She waited. He shrugged again.

"I've thought about it," he said simply. Her eyes narrowed, worried, but he thread his fingers through hers. "I love you, too." She leaned in and pressed her lips to his for a deep kiss.

When they broke apart, she grinned. "Are you done moping?"

"I wasn't moping."

"But are you done?"

He shot her a look of deep annoyance and deeper affection. "Yes."

"Good." She pushed him toward the sofa that dominated the room. It hadn't been placed yet, just dropped in the room, haphazard and crooked, but - importantly - clear of boxes. "We have six rooms to christen." She winked at his answering smile. "If we want to be done before morning we better get started."


	3. Something Borrowed

The door opened to reveal an older woman. Leia Organa. Celebrated activist. Former senator of Illinois. Ben's mother.

"Hello?" Leia greeted her visitor. She didn't recognize the young woman.

"Senator Organa?"

"...Yes," Leia answered, hesitant. Though still highly regarded for the most part, her senatorial career had come to an abrupt end and she'd lived a far more private life in the years since. "But I haven't been for a while now."

Rey took a breath. "May I come in?"

Leia peered, worried, but she didn't seem nefarious. She stepped aside and waved Rey in.

"Thank you."

Leia closed the door behind Rey and pointed toward a coat rack. Rey glanced around the foyer as she peeled off her layers and hung them on the hooks. The walls were almost blindingly white, and somewhat antiseptic. There was nothing personal on display.

"Rey!"

Rey turned with a grin. "Hi Chewie." Ben's uncle (honorary) was the one who told her where and when to come. Both Ben and Leia were too stubborn to reach out on their own.

Leia watched with wide eyes as Chewie pulled the young woman into a tight embrace. Peter Chewbacca was her oldest friend. He'd served with her husband in the army, what felt like a hundred years ago, and had moved in to help out after Han passed. Chewie was a giant, and loud, but a softie. And a good judge of character— their embrace put her at ease about the young woman, but it also piqued her curiosity.

'You got this," Chewie murmured to Rey as he let her go. Then, he addressed both woman, "I’ll leave you two to talk." And made his way upstairs.

Leia crossed her arms. "So. Who are you?"

"Rey."

"Rey. . .?"

"Just Rey."

"Hhm," Leia said. For some reason, Rey seemed nervous. But Leia wasn't particularly skilled at putting people at ease. "What can I do for you, Just Rey?"

Rey pulled her lips in over her mouth. Leia raised an eyebrow. Rey took a slow breath and squared her shoulders. _Now or never_.

"I'm marrying your son."

Leia's mouth dropped open. "...What?"

"Your son, Ben. We're engaged."

Leia was completely unprepared for this news. It wasn't in the realm of possibility. She'd expected Rey to be a journalist offering to ghost write her memoirs or an idealist hoping to break into politics. Not her soon-to-be...

" _What_?"

Rey frowned and pulled back. Maybe this was a mistake. But the change in posture broke Leia out of her astonishment and she rushed to grasp Rey's arm. "I'm sorry, I- Did he... is he..." She looked up suddenly, eyes past Rey, as if she could see through the door. "Did he send you to...?"

"Oh, no!" Rey swallowed. "No. Ben doesn't know I'm here."

"Ah."

An awkward silence grew. At last, Leia let go of Rey's sleeve and took a deep breath. "Would you like some tea?"

Rey nodded and followed the older woman deeper into the house. Once past the foyer and front rooms, the formal aesthetic was replaced with something more cozy and personable. There were photos on the walls and faded, mismatched pillows on a bench in the hall. The kitchen was painted pale yellow and there was clutter on the table that Leia waved Rey toward. It was warm and relatable, a stark contrast to the public facing part of the house.

Rey watched, fascinated, as Leia puttered around the kitchen to make their tea. There was a frenzied energy to Leia's movements that was very familiar. It was easy to imagine a young Ben in this place.

"So." Leia placed two cups on tea and a plate of biscuits on the table sat. "Rey. Who are you?"

"Nobody."

"Well." She chuckled quietly. "I don't believe that." Her eyes were kind, welcoming.

Rey lifted the tea cup to her lips and blew slowly. Wisps of steam glittered in the sunlight.

"I have a shop," she began. She told Leia it was her first job. She'd started bringing things in to sell, stuff she found on the side of the road, in junkyards, or condemned buildings. "I love abandoned things." When she aged out of foster care the owner hired her to run the place. Then Ben helped her buy him out, and now it was theirs.

"We met there," she said, as if it explained everything. Leia shook her head. Maybe it did.

"Thank you." Rey frowned with confusion. "For bringing me back my son." Even if she never saw him again, now she knew he’d be okay. She reached across the table to touch the young woman's hand and they shared a smile. But something lingered in Rey's eyes. A question. "What is it?"

"Why..."

Leia's chest tightened. She braced for the question. _Why hadn't she spoken to him in a decade? Why was her son a stranger?_

Rey blinked. "Why is he so fascinated with _Sleeping Beauty_?"

Leia stared at her a full minute and then burst into laughter. "He told you about that?"

"Sort of. I feel like I only have half the story."

Leia sat back in her chair. "What is the moral of _Sleeping Beauty_?"

"I have no idea."

Leia laughed again, with fondness. "That fate can't be avoided and risk is a part of life."

Rey considered this. Ben was so cautious so much of the time, it did sound like him.

"But," Leia smiled quietly to herself. "True love conquers all." It was something she'd struggled with in her later years, and that took a toll on her son. She was so happy to learn he remembered that part of the story.

"Wait," she told Rey and hustled out of the room. Rey stood and cleared the table; she'd rinsed and dried the dishes by the time Leia returned.

"Here." She held out her closed fist and nodded for Rey to put out her hand. When she did, Leia dropped a chain into it. "Give it to Ben. Tell him I am so happy to have met you."

Rey brushed her fingers over the object, two brass dice on a chain. They looked old, one side was rubbed off and there was a knot in the chain. To her trained eye they were cheap and tarnished and worthless.

"I am so happy to have met you," Leia repeated, a catch in her voice. 

Rey looked up to find tears in Leia's eyes. She nodded and Leia impulsively embraced her, crying freely.

Rey closed her hand around the dice. To her trained eye, they were priceless. 

"I will."

Leia pulled back, met her eyes, and nodded. Rey smiled and took her leave. It was only the beginning. Leia followed her to the door, watched her step out into the city, walk down the stairs. 

"Rey," she called out as she reached the bottom, the sidewalk. The young woman, her future daughter-in-law, turned back. "They were his father's. I want them back." 

Rey nodded understanding, waved, and walked away. Leia watched until she turned the corner and disappeared.


	4. Something Blue

The ceremony was an Alderaanian tradition. It predated the destruction, but gained poignance and popularity among the survivors and their children in the years since. The candles were hand dipped and translucent blue to represent the afterlife. One candle per ancestor. They were lit at dawn and timed to last deep into the evening, but extinguish on their own before the next sunrise. Traditionally, the candles were lit on the Winter Solstice, but many practitioners would light them for any significant occasion. A wedding certainly qualified.

Ben's best memory of his father was Han lifting him up over his head and spinning around, faster and faster. Father and son laughed with abandon until they both fell down. As Han hit the ground Ben almost slipped out of his grasp, but Han closed his arms around Ben’s small body and clutched him tight to his chest. Ben never did anything with such abandon ever again.

As he lit Han's candle Ben imagined his father standing with them. _This is Rey_ , he told the memory, _You'd love her. She's just like you. Always crawling around junk piles and driving too fast. I wish you could know each other. I wish a lot of things_ . He glanced to Rey's left, to Leia lighting a candle of her own, having her own silent conversation. _But I won't let regret get in my way anymore. I promise_.

Light filled the room as the couple and their whole wedding party lit candles for their loved ones.

The brothers in arms Chewie and Artie, who served with Leia's father, lost to war and sorrow. 

Leia’s two sets of parents, who molded her with both presence and absence.

Her twin brother, Luke, who she lost and found and lost again. He waited for her.

The step uncle and his wife who raised Luke and the grandmother who died before the twins were born. 

Rey's parents, whose names she didn't know but whose faces she'd never forget. Finn, Poe, Rose and Jannah, all friends she met in group homes or on the street when they were kids, had similar stories. Rose also lit a candle for her sister. 

And Han. 

Loss united them, but also joy. In the very center of the altar they'd set the brass dice, and the music box. Its lid was open, spilling light along with the candles.

The glow grew as the morning turned to day and the small crowd grew to a mass. Peeking from the back, Rey was overwhelmed by the hundreds of faces she didn't recognize. _We should have eloped._ But she caught sight of her friends, all seated up front, and at the very end of the aisle, dressed like a prince with sash and sword and everything, Ben. Normally he would be just as anxious as she was, or more. But all this pomp and circumstance was for Leia. He looked content.

Ben blinked and turned her way, met her eyes across the room. Crowd and nerves faded as he very slightly inclined his head. She nodded in turn. 

"I'm ready," she said and the steward signaled the string quartet to begin. The music played, the candles glowed, the guests stood.

All eyes were on Rey, her eyes were on Ben.

True love conquers all.


End file.
